A Good Chin Wagging
by BuffyAnn23
Summary: Secret Santa gift for @promisedyouforever on Tumblr. Nine needs to have a chat with Ten regarding his OOC behavior on a 51st century ship with time windows leading to 18th century France.


The Doctor was feeling slightly giddy as the fireplace spun him back around into the hull of the 51st century ship, crowing about having just snogged Jean Antoinette Poisson; or as she was better known as Madame de Pompadour the famous Royal mistress of King Louis XV. It was always a thrill for him whenever he came across a well-known historical figure and admittedly an even bigger ego boost if they just happened to fancy him. Well, he was rather pretty in this regeneration so it wasn't much of a surprise that he managed to turn a few heads in his wake. He supposed he had always been a bit of a braggart as well if he was being honest, so when his announcement wasn't immediately greeted by the captive audience of his companions his mood soured a bit.

"Every time." he growled in frustration as he stepped down from the hearth. "It's rule one. Don't wander off. I tell them, I do. Rule one. There could be anything on this ship."

As he made his way through the control room in search of his companions, his thoughts were centered on Rose. He knew she could take care of herself but she also had a tendency to be extremely jeopardy friendly and with those droids roaming around the ship it wasn't safe for her to be wandering around alone. ' _Or Mickey.'_ His brain supplied as an afterthought. He sighed internally. _'Why did I bring him along again?'_ Oh he knew why. After the conversation he and Rose had outside the chippy the other night regarding their lifespans he knew he needed to put some immediate distance between them. They had already gotten quite close when he was in his previous body and once he regenerated his feelings for her seemed to have grown even stronger. He wanted to be near her all the time. Used any excuse he could find just to touch her and would often find himself getting lost in her eyes, which of course would only make things even more difficult when she decided to leave him or worse she… No. He would never let that happen, let alone think of it. Of course if he did succeed in distancing himself, he ran the risk of losing her anyway.

 _'_ _Maybe it would be for the best.'_ he tried to convince himself. If she were to leave on her own now, then maybe it would help spare him the pain of losing her later on. The only question now was what would he need to do to effectively push her to that decision? He knew Rose wasn't going to back down from this thing between them easily and Mickey's presence onboard certainly hadn't created the buffer he had been hoping for but maybe…

For a moment he was slightly disappointed that Rose hadn't been in earshot when he came back through the fireplace. Okay, granted using another woman's affections as a distraction/diversionary tactic was admittedly downright deplorable but his frankly magnificent brain couldn't seem to come up with a better alternative at the moment. Not to mention the whole 'coward every time' problem he faced whenever the situation became too awkward or difficult for him to handle. As he recalled the kiss, he smacked his lips a bit with a grimace. Although being snogged by someone famous was exciting the lack of dental hygiene in that era had him now searching for a bottle of mouthwash in his bigger on the inside pockets.

"Proud of ourselves, are we?" a deep Northern voice asked as he rounded the corner. The blood drained from The Doctor's face as he took in his Ninth self standing before him, arms crossed and staring back at him in disapproval. "Good thing I sent Rose back to the TARDIS so she didn't have to hear that."

The Doctor swallowed roughly, adam's apple bobbing as his previous self uncrossed his arms and took a step forward.

"We need to have a chat, pretty boy."

As the immediate shock dissipated, The Doctor managed to find his voice. "You can't be here. You know how dangerous it is to cross our own timelines."

"Are you seriously lecturing me about the rules of time travel when you're off messing about in a historical figure's timeline?" The Doctor at least had the decency to look slightly chagrined as his Ninth self continued. "So how about you stow the superiority complex and explain to me what the hell you think you're doing."

The Doctor shook his head and turned away. "I can't do this with you right now. I need to figure out what those droids want and find a way to shut down the time windows on this ship so they can't get back through."

"Already done."

"What?" The Doctor squeaked incredulously as he spun back around to face his counterpart.

"Yeah, I did it right after you came back through bragging about snogging the courtesan." His former self grimaced slightly. "I hope for your sake it was closed mouth. Especially with how bad oral hygiene was during that century." he added making the current Doctor roll his eyes, even though he was in silent agreement. "Anyway, I just deactivated the teleportation link and then cut the main power to the generator which effectively shut down all the windows. Now that they're cut off from the ship, they no longer have any directive. They'll be useless. _Nul Points_."

"Now why didn't I think of that?"

The leather clad Doctor snorted. "Because I've apparently regenerated into an idiot. If I'd have left it up to you, you'd have probably done something stupid like crashing through one of those windows and not be able to get back."

Not wanting to concede the accurate probability of that statement, The Doctor plastered on a fake grin and turned to leave. "Well I guess that's it then. Moving on. I'm sure you've got places to be."

"Hold it." The other Doctor called out, stopping him mid-step. "We're not done yet. I still need a bit of clarification on a few things. Like why you brought 'Rickey the idiot' along and what you're doing flirting with other women when we both know how we feel about Rose. Now I couldn't get much out of her because she was too worried about creating another incident involving reapers but she did tell me that you had an argument the other night and then suddenly you're inviting her ex onboard and becoming distant." At the current Doctor's reluctance to respond, he crossed his arms again and looked at him pointedly. "You might as well tell me since I'm going to have to forget anyway. And you can just get straight to the point. Rose also mentioned you like to talk and I don't have the patience for a bunch of techno babble or excuses from myself right now."

"Sarah Jane." The current Time Lord bit out.

The leather clad Doctor started a bit at the name, old memories resurfacing. "What about her?"

"We ran into her on our last trip to Earth and… well it just reminded me of how short a human life span is. Rose and I were getting too close. I had to put some distance between us."

"Oh not this again." His former self tipped his head back with a roll of his eyes. "I thought we were done with this whole one-sided argument. Making lists of reasons why it would never work and why we shouldn't let ourselves get too close when the truth is she already had our hearts by the time we were in that basement in Cardiff. Maybe even before that. Maybe since ' _run'._ "

"And that's exactly why I need to do this." The Doctor cut in. "If she were to leave on her own now then it would save us a whole hell of a lot of heartache down the line."

"Save you, you mean." his previous self countered. "Don't forget I had all these same thoughts swimming around in my head before I became you. That it would be easier to just let her go. Take her home to her mother and make her stay there." He took a step forward. "But I want you to take a good look at me. I want you to remember what we were like before her. Do you really want to go back to that?" The haunted look in his counterpart's eyes spoke volumes as he continued. "I thought not. That's why I couldn't do it and neither can you. And as for this whole 'distance' routine, it's a complete load of bollocks. So just knock it off. We both know it would never work because even though we may not be able to voice it, our love for her transcends all of time and space and nothing will ever change that. Now I suggest you get back to our ship and try to fix things with Rose. I don't particularly want to have to put her through another regeneration but I will if that's what it takes to knock some sense into our head cause if she leaves us, so help me..."

The Doctor held up his hands in a placating manner. "Yeah, okay I got it. I got it."

"Good. Now off you go." his former self directed in a condescending tone, earning him a glare and something muttered about being 'rude and not ginger' before they parted ways.

When The Doctor entered the TARDIS, Rose leapt up from the jumpseat.

"I didn't tell him… you anythin'." she hurried to reassure him. "I mean he asked what was goin' on but I told him I wasn't gonna take any chances in bringin' reapers here and…" she paused for a moment, taking in his expression. "Are you alright?"

Realizing he had been staring at her with a sort of love-struck look of awe, he quickly gathered his thoughts and smiled. "I'm fine. And you didn't do anything wrong. After our little… chat he's going to have to forget all of it anyway."

"So he left then yeah?" she asked, looking towards the door and wringing her hands.

"Yep." he replied, popping the 'P' as he headed up the ramp towards the console.

"Oh."

The wistfulness in her tone made him pause for a moment. "Rose?" he questioned with a raised brow.

"No, S' nothin'. I jus' thought…" Rose shook her head. "It was jus' really nice to see him again." She smiled sadly, her eyes downcast. "Sometimes I jus' miss the old you, S' all."

The Doctor winced slightly at her confession, his hearts squeezing painfully in his chest as past insecurities resurfaced. "Do you still wish I could change back?" he asked quietly.

"No." her response was immediate and she stepped forward, placing her hands on his chest. "Doctor you're still you no matter what face you're wearin' and M' sorry I hurt you when I asked you that. I didn't understand everythin' then but I do now." She raised a hand and placed it against his cheek, gently stroking his sideburn with her thumb and he couldn't help but to lean into her touch. "You're still My Doctor. I guess sometimes I jus' feel like things between us were easier to understand then."

"Oh, Rose." he breathed out, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry." he murmured into her hair. "The truth is that seeing Sarah Jane again just reminded me that you…" The Doctor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I meant what I said the other night Rose. I won't ever leave you like that. I can't. It's too late because," he pulled back to look her in the eyes and swallowed roughly. "Rose, the way I feel about you..."

"I know." she cut him off, taking his hands in hers. "Me too. And Doctor I don't expect you to change or to give me any more than you're capable of but I need you to at least try to talk to me about the important stuff. Stop tryin' to make decisions for me and stop pushin' me away 'cause you're scared. M' scared too but M' here because I _want_ to be here. So get that through your thick Time Lord skull." she poked him lightly in the chest. "'Cause M' not goin' anywhere as long as you still want me. Better with two, yeah?" she asked, tongue in teeth.

"Yeah." he agreed, his mouth stretching into a wide grin.

Staring down into her warm hazel eyes he felt the last of his barriers begin to dissolve and the urge to fall overwhelmed him as his gaze drifted down to her soft inviting lips. His eyes flicked back up to hers for a moment seeing her assent to his silent question and he slowly lowered his head until their lips were centimeters apart, their breaths mingling as their eyes fluttered closed and then…

"Hey Rose, I think the TARDIS moved my room again cause… oh." Mickey paused in the archway as the pair sprung apart. "Sorry." he muttered, gesturing behind him awkwardly. "I'll jus'…"

"No, S' okay Mick." Rose interjected. "I'll come help you find it." She flashed The Doctor an apologetic look and then moved to follow her friend as he headed back down the corridor. She had barely taken two steps when she suddenly spun back around, grabbed him by the lapels and yanked him down into a brief but passionate kiss. As she pulled back, The Doctor's lips chased after hers, his hands hovering midair. "Meet you in the Library in five minutes, yeah?" she asked breathlessly.

He nodded, slightly dazed as he watched her turn and hurry away. Nope. No mouthwash needed for that kiss.

"I just snogged Rose Tyler!" he crowed, dancing giddily around the console as he sent them into the vortex and a deep Northern voice chuckled in the back of his mind.


End file.
